Macedonia was the first Western Balkan country to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU on 9 April 2001. On 22 March 2004 the country applied for EU membership and on 17 December 2005 the European Council granted Macedonia official candidate status for EU membership. The Macedonian government hopes to open accession negotiations in 2010, as recommended by the European Commission October 2009. The European Parliament has also urged to open negotiations in a resolution passed in February 2010.

International organizations:

Macedonia joined the UN on 8 April 1993 under the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM). It is also a member of the Council of Europe, The World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Francophonie. Besides Macedonia's aspirations to join the EU, it has also applied for NATO membership (though accession has so far been blocked by Greece on account of its dispute with Macedonia about the country's name).